FRC WEEKLY REPORT 30 MAY TO 5 JUNE 2011
North Waziristan Agency:
On 30 May, Pakistan has decided to commence a careful and meticulous military offensive in North Waziristan Agency (NWA), the tribal area adjacent to Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, where military operation was not earlier conducted.
On 31 May, The US military chief, Admiral Mike Mullen, said that the Pakistani governmentwould launch a major offensive on militants in North Waziristan.
On 31 May, A minor girl was killed and nine other people were injured when a bomb ripped through a hotel in Miramshah, witnesses said.
On 31 May, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana FazlurRehman warned here that the country could face a survival threat if government and military launched an operation in the North Waziristan Agency.
On 31 May, Humanitarian agencies active in Pakistan’s northwest have been quietly told to prepare for up to 365,000 displaced people in advance of a military offensive against North Waziristan, a senior official with an international humanitarian agency said.
On 1 June, The armed forces will carry out a limited operation in North Waziristan primarily targeting Al Qaeda, Taliban and foreign fighters, as against the widely held belief that the focus will be exclusively on the Haqqani network.
On 1 June, A group of tribal elders and Ulema strongly opposed that any military operation in North Waziristan Agency, saying the region was comparatively peaceful and the government writ prevailed there.
On 2 June, One of Pakistan’s top military commanders ruled out an imminent offensive in North Waziristan, contradicting reports that the country had agreed to assault the militant-infested region following pressure from the United States.
On 2 June, The government has decided not to carry out an army operation in North Waziristan, the Senate’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs was told in meeting.
On 3 June, Pakistan reiterated that it would carry out joint operations with the United States and share intelligence to defeat militancy but stopped short of giving details about the exact nature of the operations, including those in North Waziristan.
On 3 June, In a rare show of unity, senior officials of the Pak Army, the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) and political administration along with members of the peace committee visited various parts of North Waziristan and pledged to work together for maintaining peace in the tribal region.
South Waziristan Agency:
On 4 June, A US missile strike targeting a militant compound killed five rebels in South Waziristan Agency Friday, security officials said.
Mohmand Agency:
On 30 May, Security forces defused explosives in Qandaharo Tehsil of Mohmand Agency and arrested six suspected persons in the subsequent search operation in the area, official and tribal sources said.
On 4 June, A soldier was injured in a roadside blast in the Khadikhel area in Safi Tehsil of Mohmand Agency, tribal sources said
Khyber Agency:
On 1 June, Hundreds of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Bara Tehsil of Khyber Agency residing in Jalozai camp went on a three-day token hunger strike to protest the stoppage of food rations to them.
On 2 June, Security forces destroyed three houses of militants and arrested three suspects in Bara, Khyber Agency.
On 2 June, The members of a peace committee shot dead two captives of a banned outfit to avenge killing of one of their volunteers in Bara Tehsil of Khyber Agency.
On 4 June, Four people including members of the Khassadar Force and a civilian were injured when militants blew up a check post with a time device in ChotaNehar area of Jamrud subdivision in Khyber Agency, local sources said.
On 4 June, A child was killed while three others sustained injuries when a mortar shell hit a house in Tirah valley of the Khyber Agency, local sources said.
On 5 June, Unidentified terrorists blew up a school in Bara Tehsil of Khyber Agency with explosives, taking the total number of destroyed schools to 42 in the last two years.
Kurram Agency:
On 4 June, Three women sustained injuries when unidentified persons fired rockets at the Sholzan village near the Pak-Afghan border in Kurram Agency, tribal sources said.
Orakzai Agency:
On 31 May, At least 14 soldiers were injured when lightning struck their post in the Orakzai Agency, official and tribal sources said.
On 1 June, At least 17 suspected militants were killed in heavy bombing by planes in the upper tehsil of Orakzai Agency.
Shehla Said, Research Associate FATA Research Centre, Islamabad